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Introduction

Rigel was a major navigation star in Terran antiquity. It lies 800 lightyears from Sol and the heart of the Solar Union, placing it in the middle regions of the Terran Sphere. It is one of the more populous independent Terran systems due to it's large number of resource rich worlds and historical cultural significance. It is among the largest and most powerful stars in the galaxy.

Description

Rigel is the sixth brightest star in the sky when viewed from Terra. A blue supergiant 20 times more massive than Sol and approximately 85,000 times brighter with an apparent magnitude of 0.18. It is a multiple star system featuring three companions, two of which form a spectroscopic binary that orbits around a common center of gravity 80 AU apart, some 2200 AU from Rigel Alpha.

Rigel Beta was not discovered until the first Terran probes arrived in-system.

Only the most prominent of Rigel's satellites are named; as a whole, the system is populated by no less than one hundred thousand such satellites. All satellites classed as dwarf planets or smaller may or may not be named, but such titles are used only in colloquial parlance, regardless of the importance of whatever settlements they may harbor. The Star Kingdom of Rigel calls them stations.

Rigel Alpha is surrounded by a large accretion disc which extends nearly 100 AU outwards in every direction, save for a region of empty space around the star's equator roughly 10 AU in radius at it's widest. Any objects within this vicinity were vaporized by the intense heat, radiation, and stellar wind of the star long ago. The accretion disc is heavily mined by the inhabitants of the system.

The Rigel system has five distinct asteroid belts. The first lies at 110 AU from Rigel Alpha, just beyond the outer edges of the accretion disc and is thought to be the remnants of a planet which failed to form. The second belt is found at 190 AU, between Styx and Aliakmonas, and the third is found at 900 AU. The third belt is particularly dense and features many dwarf planet-sized objects.

The fourth belt's orbit is inclined relative to the ecliptic some 30 degrees and has been thinned considerably by it's largest member, Rigel XIX, a small planet nearly 3200 AU from Rigel Alpha, and 1000 AU from Rigel Gamma & Delta. Finally, a fifth belt is found almost 5200 AU from Rigel Alpha, but is still not made of the most distant objects from the star, but they are among the most remote.

For years Tikbalang, with it's prominent research outpost (owned and operated by Tikbalang RD), was considered the most distant satellite. However, the discovery of another planet 9000 AU from Rigel Alpha was made and it was dubbed Rigel XXI. Following this discovery a long-distance survey was begun but produced no results and so the Star Kingdom cut funding less than a decade later.

Nine worlds in the system are capable of supporting life and three others are being terraformed.

History

~??? BC: Discovery and naming of Rigel

1831 AD: Rigel is declared a spectroscopic binary system

1978 AD: Rigel A's companion, Rigel B, is declared a binary

1992 AD: A fourth star is theorized to exist within the system

2007 AD: Rigel's luminosity is calculated by Terran astronomers

2008 AD: The spectral class of Rigel is incorrectly established as B8Iab

2009 AD: The radius of Rigel is accurately calculated

2021 AD: Terran scientists confirm the presence of a fourth star

2023 AD: Rigel's spectral class is resolved with new information as B8II

2024 AD: The Rigel B binary officially becomes Rigel C and D

2142 AD: The OVLT confirms the presence of an accretion disc around Rigel

Trivia

Rigel Alpha is so bright that all inhabitants within 5000 AU must wear sunglasses to protect their eyes. Even with the latest advances in affordable materials wearers of such sunglasses could still be blinded by the star. Several bionic eyes exist which allow filtering of the intense rays but the artificial retinal shaders degrade slowly, making the implants very expensive over time.